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OCCUPANCY FOR U.S. hotels is now expected to finish the year a little down from the previous forecast by STR and Tourism Economics. However, projections for ADR and RevPAR recovery remain on track in the data firms' final forecast of the year. RevPAR is still expected to fully recover this year on a nominal basis, but not until 2025 when adjusted for inflation, according to the new forecast. The updated forecast lowered occupancy by less than a percentage point for 2022, standing now at 62.7 percent compared to the previously forecasted 63 percent released in August. "As expected, group business travel has been much more aligned with pre-pandemic patterns, specifically in October when group demand hit a pandemic-era high," said Amanda Hite, STR president. "Leisure travel has maintained its strength since our previous forecast update, and we expect these strong demand trends in both group and leisure to continue through the fourth quarter. Bottom-line performance has also persisted, with our most recent data showing strong profit margins due to lower employment levels and reduced services. The challenges around labor continue to be a concern, as high levels of hospitality unemployment and more spending on contract labor are pushing labor costs on a per-available-room basis above 2019 levels. We continue to take inflation and the likely recession into consideration, but the hotel industry has continued to show resilience through these tougher times, thus the steadiness of our updated forecast."

U.S. HOTELS RECORDED decreased performance results in November, compared to the preceding month, according to CoStar. However, year-over-year comparisons indicated positive improvements. Occupancy decreased to 58.4 percent in November, compared to 65.8 percent in October, marking a 1.2 percent decline from the previous year. ADR decreased from $161.56 to $151.23, showing a 3.6 percent increase from 2022. RevPAR stood at $88.36, down from $106.38 in the previous month, reflecting a 2.4 percent rise from the preceding year. Among the top 25 markets, New York City achieved the highest occupancy at 84 percent, marking a 6.3 percent year-over-year increase. Markets with the lowest occupancy for the month were Minneapolis at 49.1 percent and St. Louis at 53.2 percent. Meanwhile, the top 25 markets exhibited superior occupancy and ADR compared to all others.

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT of Homeland Security will make available more than 64,000 additional H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for fiscal year 2023. The extra visas will help the hotel and travel industries meet continuing labor shortages, according to the U.S. Travel Association. DHS also will issue its normal allotment of 66,000 H-2B visas as well as the 64,716 extra visas. The visas, which permit employers to temporarily hire noncitizens to perform certain labor in the U.S., became available at the beginning of October. Also, the agency created the new Worker Protection Taskforce to make sure the H-2B visa workers are not exploited. "The Department of Homeland Security is moving with unprecedented speed to meet the needs of American businesses," said Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security. "At a time of record job growth, this full year allocation at the very outset of the fiscal year will ensure that businesses can plan for their peak season labor needs. We also will bolster worker protections to safeguard the integrity of the program from unscrupulous employers who would seek to exploit the workers by paying substandard wages and maintaining unsafe work conditions."

THE U.S. HOUSE of Representatives recently passed a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the National Labor Relations Board's October ruling on its definition of joint-employer status. The American Hotel & Lodging Association welcomed the resolution, but President Biden has promised to veto it. The NLRB ruling, issued Oct. 26 and due to take effect Feb. 26, defines a joint employer to be any company that shares or codetermines one or more essential terms and conditions of employment. Those include ages, benefits, and other compensation; hours of work and scheduling; the assignment and supervision of duties to be performed; work rules and tenure of employment. The final rule rescinds the 2020 rule that was promulgated by the prior board and applies the new definition of joint employer to any entity that can control the essential terms of employment whether or not such control is exercised and without regard to whether any such exercise of control is direct or indirect. House Joint Resolution 98 would nullify the NLRB's rule.